The arrangement will commence April 2008, when the two firms both begin new financial years. By 2010, half of Sharp's LCD TV chip purchases will be supplied by Toshiba, while 40 per cent of the LCD panels Toshiba will use will come from Sharp.

Indeed, Sharp today said that while many new types of display technology are coming to market, it's going to focus on LCD in a bid to drive down LCD TV power consumption, thickness and weight, and increase their resolution, colour quality and lifespan.